Healthcare staffing agency owes doctor no common law fair procedure

Most public or quasi-public statutory authorities owe constitutional due process and mandatory hearing rights to individual physicians before terminating employment for cause. But what about privately owned medical staffing corporations? Are they covered by statutory or common law doctrines of fair procedure? The California Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District has answered that question in a case of first impression (meaning the first time the court had considered the issue). 

Facts 

Stallion Springs facilitated the staffing and scheduling of emergency providers in the Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Medical Center’s emergency department under a contract with the hospital. To fulfill its staffing obligations, Stallion Springs entered into independent contractor relationships with individual emergency room providers to render professional medical services in the hospital’s emergency department. 

Dr. Kuljit S. Hundal, a practicing emergency room physician, entered into an independent contractor agreement with Stallion Springs to staff the hospital’s emergency department. He was a member of the medical staff who practiced at the hospital for “a number of years.” 

On March 26, 2019, a patient posted a complaint on social media about Hundal’s conduct in the hospital’s emergency department alleging he yelled at her about wasting his time and told her twice to “get the hell out of” the emergency room after she refused to have lab work performed.